Research - July 2015 Archives

ROCHESTER, Minn. – For women with dense breast tissue, supplementing standard mammography with a new imaging technique called molecular breast imaging (MBI) can lower the cost of diagnosis of breast cancers, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR). Researchers at the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine found that adding MBI to mammography of women with dense breast tissue increased the costs of diagnosis 3.2 times, compared to costs of mammography alone, and nearly quadrupled the rate of cancer detection. Because the supplemental test found more cancer, screening with a combination of mammography and MBI saved $8,254 per cancer detected. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWCjHy37Ck&feature=youtu.be While mammography is still the standard tool for widespread breast cancer screening, it is now known to perform less effectively in women with dense breast tissue. Both tumors and normal dense breast tissue can appear white on a mammogram, making tumors hard to detect. Nearly half of all women over age 40 have mammograms classified as “dense,” according to Carrie Hruska, Ph.D., a medical physicist in the Mayo Clinic Department of Radiology and the study’s lead author. Supplemental screening techniques like MBI address a significant need for better cancer detection methods for this patient population. Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Hruska are in the downloads. MEDIA CONTACT: Bob Nellis and Shea Jennings, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Hysterectomy may be a marker of early cardiovascular risk and disease, especially in women under 35, according to Mayo Clinic experts. In a study recently published in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society, researchers found that women who underwent hysterectomy were much more likely to have pre-existing cardiovascular risk factors – especially obesity – than women of the same age in the control group who did not undergo hysterectomy. In particular, women under age 35 had the most cardiovascular risk factors and disease, including stroke. “Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women, and women see primarily gynecologists between 18 years and 64 years – a time when early screening for cardiovascular disease would be important,” says lead author and Mayo Clinic OB-GYN Shannon Laughlin-Tommaso, M.D., “We wanted to do this study to find a gynecologic screening method for cardiovascular disease.” MEDIA CONTACT: Kelley Luckstein and Katie Pak, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic is announcing results of a study on the effectiveness of left-ventricular assist devices (LVAD) in treating patients with a form of cardiomyopathy called restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM). The Mayo Clinic study, which is the largest study of its kind to date, demonstrates that LVAD devices are a viable and accessible option for treating patients with RCM, who would otherwise see their health deteriorate or who may not survive. The study suggests criteria that clinicians can use for successful implementation of these devices in RCM. Approximately 500,000 people are currently living with cardiomyopathy, which is a condition that affects the muscles in the heart. RCM is a rare form of cardiomyopathy that limits the heart muscle from relaxing between beats when the blood returns from the body back to the heart. This causes the heart to pump weakly and restricts the flow of blood to the heart’s chambers. An LVAD is a mechanical pump that helps pump blood from the heart to the rest of the body. MEDIA CONTACT: Ginger Plumbo, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, Email: newsbureau@mayo.edu

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In their bid to find the best combination of therapies to treat anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), researchers on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus demonstrated that all histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are not created equal. In testing multiple HDAC inhibitors in combination with the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, known to give some benefit for this aggressive cancer, they found that class II HDAC inhibitors signal through a newly discovered pathway to promote synergy with chemotherapy treatment. Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Copland are available in the downloads. MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0746, punsky.kevin@mayo.edu

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus have identified key differences between patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) and those with the most common genetic form of ALS, a mutation in the C9orf72 gene. Their findings, reported online today in Nature Neuroscience, demonstrate that ALS patients show abnormalities in levels and processing of ribonucleic acids (RNA), biological molecules that determine what gene information is used to guide protein synthesis. More than 30,000 Americans live with ALS, a condition that destroys motor neuron cells that control essential muscle activity, such as speaking, walking, breathing and swallowing. While increasing efforts are geared toward therapeutic development, an effective drug for ALS has yet to be identified, in large part because of our incomplete understanding of the disease. “Our results using advanced, modern laboratory techniques called next-generation sequencing, allowed us to acquire a library of new knowledge about patients with ALS,” says the study’s senior author, Leonard Petrucelli, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neuroscience on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus. Dr. Petrucelli and Hu Li, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology on Mayo Clinic’s campus in Rochester, Minn., led a team of investigators who carefully analyzed the RNA from human brain tissues. They found that ALS brains had numerous RNA defects, compared to nondisease brains. They also predicted molecular events that may be altered due to the changes found in RNAs involved in pathways regulating those events and that may contribute to ALS.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers has eliminated fatal mitochondrial DNA mutations in stem cells from patients with mitochondrial diseases. The study is published in today's online issue of Nature as a collaboration between some of the nation's top institutions and Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Medicine. Mitochondrial diseases are a particular struggle for patients and their families as treatment options are limited, something made more dire as many of those affected are children. Andre Terzic, M.D., Ph.D., director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Medicine, explains: "These are life threatening conditions where standard care is limited to alleviating symptoms of disease. Our proof-of-concept study shows that functionally corrected stem cells can be generated from these patients, providing initial steps towards regenerative therapy for mitochondrial disease.” MEDIA CONTACT: Bob Nellis, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu Read: Research paper in Nature Read: Oregon Health & Science University News Release